Into the Elite 8

Oregon continued its magical run through the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Elite 8 of the Midwest Region Friday with a 76-72 victory against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in the Sweet 16.

Tajuan Porter, the little guy nobody wanted, has Oregon one game away from the Final Four. The 5-foot-6 freshman tied an NCAA regional record with eight 3-pointers and finished with 33 points, and Oregon withstood a frantic comeback to top seventh-seeded UNLV 76-72 on Friday in the Midwest Regional. He is also third on the NCAA list for three pointers by a freshman with 108.

Malik Hairston had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Oregon (29-7), which has not reached a Final Four since winning it all in 1939. Maarty Leunen hit three 3-pointers and added 11 points.

Oregon dictated the tempo from the beginning, turning it into an up-and-down game and relying on the 3-point shot. The Ducks shot 56 percent from 3-point range (13-of-23) against a UNLV team that had held Georgia Tech to 27 percent and Wisconsin to 24 percent 3-point shooting in the first two rounds.

The victory sends the third-seeded Ducks (29-7) to play the defending national champion and the top seed in the Midwest Region, Florida on Sunday for a berth in the Final Four.

Go Ducks!

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Game time on Sunday will be 2:40pm Eastern time (2:40am Monday, 26-Mar Malaysian time)